Kaoru didn't sleep.
Even if he wanted to, the cold stone floor and whispering runes around him wouldn't let him. It was like the cathedral was... breathing.
He sat cross-legged near the summoning circle, fingers tracing the glowing lines etched into the floor.
Each time his fingers passed over a symbol, a flicker of something stirred in the back of his mind.
A burning city.
A child clutching a broken sword.
A voice saying "You weren't supposed to remember."
A taste of cinnamon.
"…Cinnamon?" he muttered.
The cathedral didn't answer. Rude.
Kaoru exhaled. "Right. Let's review."
He stood and conjured the interface again with a thought.
[Status]
Name: Kaoru Itsuki
Title: World Weaver
Level: 0
Class: Unranked
Skill: Legacy Catalyst (Active)
Unlocked Lives: 1
— Tinkerer of the Hollow Forge
[Inventory: Empty]
[Map: Unknown Realm —
Cathedral of Reversal]
So he had... one life unlocked. A
"Tinkerer." Whatever that meant.
Another menu blinked open:
Legacy Fragments.
He tapped it.
Tinkerer of the Hollow Forge
— A soul who built weapons from debris and traps from broken dreams.
— [Trait Unlocked]: Scrapcraft - Improvise gear using found materials.
— [Memory Locked]: Burned Village, "I should have saved them."
A cold wave rolled through him.
He didn't remember the village.
Not clearly. But the guilt felt real.
"Guess that's the price of power," he muttered. "Emotional baggage."
He turned back to the altar, where the golden eye had appeared. It was gone now-closed, like a god blinking back into sleep.
He approached the blackened platform, brushing aside some ash and rubble.
There-buried under shattered stone—was a small metal rod.
About the length of his forearm.
Etched with runes. Burned on one end. Lightweight.
It looked like trash.
[Item Acquired: Inert Spell Staff
- Damaged]
[Trait Activated: Scrapcraft]
[Improvisation Possible: Repair?
Y/N]
Kaoru blinked. "Wait, that's what this does?"
He held the staff with both hands.
Thought, Yes.
The runes on the staff shimmered.
His gloves warmed. Tiny threads of light knit the cracks in the metal, forming a jagged, but stable conduit.
[Item Repaired: Spell Staff -
"Fracture Model"]
— A beginner's staff salvaged from broken magical circuits.
Can cast minor arcana spells via rune input.
Kaoru gave a low whistle. "Not bad for a trash wand."
And then he heard it.
A wet plop.
He turned.
A slime squelched into the cathedral through a crack in the wall. Small. Semi-transparent.
Kind of... shimmering with blue light.
It wobbled toward him.
'"...Hey, little guy. You lost, too?"
The slime stopped a few feet away. Then it chirped.
[You are being observed.]
[This creature resonates with a forgotten life.]
[Resonance Triggered: Divine
Slime — Life #42]
Kaoru nearly dropped the staff.
The slime jiggled helpfully.
[Fragment Unlocked: Divine
Slime]
— A gentle soul who
transcended species and time.
Known for boundless regeneration and empathy.
— [Trait Unlocked]: Slime Core
Link - Bond with low-level magical creatures.
— [Spell Unlocked]: Absorb:
Essence Analysis
The slime bounced in a circle.
Kaoru knelt, slow. "... You're one of me, aren't you?"
The slime chirped again, then bounced directly onto his shoulder and settled like a gooey scarf.
"Gross. But okay."
Another screen opened.
[Bonded Companion: ???]
- Awaiting Name.
Kaoru grinned for the first time in both lives.
"I'll call you... Soup."
Soup chirped approvingly.
Kaoru stood again, staff in one hand, slime on one shoulder, and the ruined cathedral behind him.
The cold wind swirled, but the air felt lighter somehow. The mist at the doors was thinning.
Somewhere beyond it, the world waited. Broken. Resetting. Ruled by false gods and stitched by dying rules.
And now?
It had someone new walking its paths.
Not a hero.
Not a villain.
Just a guy with a trash wand, a slime named Soup, and a few hundred lives to remember.